Burmese Buddhist manuscript chest

Burmese Buddhist manuscript chest

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This Buddhist manuscript chest is made from wood and a fine example of Burmese lacquerware decoration.

It is designed to hold religious manuscripts such as Kammavaca texts.

Kammavaca texts typically contain religious instructions for monks. These were normally presented to novice monks, being commissioned by lay people, gaining merit in the process.

This chest follows a typical Burmese construction, consisting of 4 separate parts:

1. Pedestal base with 4 x scaled legs with claws, decorated in black lacquer and gold.

2. Main chest compartment, decorated in black lacquer and gold with fine figurative decoration on all 4 sides.

3. Interior shallow tray section.

4. Chest lid, decorated in black lacquer and gold with fine figurative decoration.

Inside is plain cinnabar colour lacquer.

Dimensions:

72cm long x 31cm deep x 31cms high.

Interior space of main compartment:

58cm long x 17.5cm deep x 11.4cm high.

Date:

circa 1960-1980.

Style is very similar to the kammavaca manuscript also listed here: FAR100091.

Companion Piece:

This complements item FAR100091 perfectly (dating from 1965). This manuscript fits very neatly inside the main compartment.